


are you afraid that you might fall for me

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [61]
Category: Bandom, Leverage
Genre: AU, F/M, akificlets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 13:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: "And because I really cannot resist: 666 - Mike Carden/Parker from Leverage - Impossible: Bayje"</p>
            </blockquote>





	are you afraid that you might fall for me

Mike found the guitar easy after a childhood being taught to pick locks and pockets. In a family of criminals, going legit to join a rock band was a double-rebellion. But when you're cut off and a starving musician, you watch your money extra-hard however you could -- and some lessons were impossible to forget.

Mike caught the wrist as it tried to pluck his wallet from his back pocket. "There's nothing in there but an old pick and an IOU," he told the elven face under the mop of fine spun-blonde hair.

Her expression was...shock. She was surprised at being caught. But just as quickly, the shock was replaced by a quicksilver smile that had Mike's heart beating faster. "You have quick hands."

"And you twist your wrist on the pullback," he told her. She rolled her eyes and nodded, and Mike remembered his own lessons, drilled in with endless repetition. "I'm Mike," he added, pushing his wallet fully back into his pocket. "What's your name?"

Mike had the distinct impression it wasn't a question she was asked often. "Parker," she said after a pause. 

Mike glanced around and made a decision. "Come on, it's freezing out here, and my friend's roommate is a barista at the Starbucks on the corner. I bet I can get him to give us freebies."

They sat in the corner until nightfall, Parker asking him questions about not being a thief with bewildered curiousity. Mike knew she was what he wasn't, a true natural - she had the gift, the drive for the take that Mike lacked. Mike smiled as he realized his dad would love her.

Mike also realized as she disappeared into the night that he'd never see her again. There was no loyalty among thieves.

He walked home, hunched up against the cold wind blowing in. The tiny flat he shared with Bill was no warmer. "Man," Bill said, pouncing on him before he was even fully through the door. "Can you spot me two bucks?"

"I'm out," Mike told him. He pulled out his wallet. "See?"

There was no money. There was also no pick. What there was was in its place was a plain, unadorned, functional, hairclip, still with a single strand of spun-blonde hair caught in the hinge, and a new IOU written on the back of a scrap of a Starbucks napkin. _IOU 1 pick._

Mike felt his heart stutter as he realized that maybe he'd see her again after all.


End file.
